Names That Mean Love
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- Amor
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"love"Description:
The Latin word for love. Amor has strong potential for the middle name position.
- Carys
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"love"Description:
Light, pretty and distinctive in appearance, Carys is one of that sweet group of girl names with a loving meaning. A relatively modern name, it didn't come into use in its native Wales until the late nineteenth century, and even then, it wasn't a mainstream choice until the middle of the twentieth century. Pronounced as CA-riss, the beginning sound is like the one cat or Catherine, not said to rhyme with Claire.
- Cerys
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"love"Description:
Common name in Wales that's all but unknown in the U.S. Certainly an attractive choice ripe for export. In the UK it sits at Number 330.
- Kerensa
Origin:
CornishMeaning:
"love"Description:
Kerensa, forever romantic, is a rare Cornish name spelled with an 's' or 'z', the most modern of the Karen family. Kerensa (or Kerenza) has ties to the Welsh Cerys.
- Nayeli
Origin:
ZapotecMeaning:
"I love you"Description:
A name rarely heard outside the Latino community, but it was popular enough in the early 2000s to crack the Top 200. Since then, it's lost ground.
- Venus
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"love, desire"Description:
The name of a heavenly planet and the Roman goddess of beauty and love was an intimidating no-no until tennis champ Venus Williams put an athletic, modern spin on it.
- Amora
Origin:
SpanishMeaning:
"love"Description:
Is Amora a real name? It made a strong entrance to the US Top 1000 in 2017 so it's one of the Spanish names for girls that is obviously catching on, perhaps thanks to its similarity to Amara, a multicultural name that's achieving widespread popularity here and abroad. Amora sounds like the Latinate amore and is one of the romantic names that mean love, familiar via the classic Dean Martin song That's Amore ("When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...). Amora also borrows something from Amanda, something from Maura, and makes an attractive choice no matter what its pedigree.
- Love
Origin:
Word nameMeaning:
"love"Description:
Love makes an endearing middle name, as in Jennifer Love Hewitt. However, more parents are considering Love as a first name — enough for it to enter the charts for the first time in 2022 as one of the fastest-rising names of the year. Other love-related alternatives include Juliet, Valentina, and Amor.
- Idony
Origin:
NorseMeaning:
"love again, renewal"Description:
Idony was the Norse goddess of spring and eternal youth, and variants of her obscure name could come under consideration with the rest of the fashionable I pack.
- Elska
Origin:
NorseMeaning:
"love"Description:
This name looks like a sister to the names Elsa and the Czech name for girls Eliška, a popular diminutive of Elizabeth — and sometimes it is (in German, for example). But it is also a word in Old Norse and some modern Nordic languages, meaning "love" or "to love".
- Renji
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"second love"Description:
Now that Kenji is rising up the ranks, it's only a matter of time before parents discover Renji. Renji Abarai is a character in the anime series Bleach, in which the kanji used for his name mean "second love" or "second romance."
- Keris
Origin:
Spelling variation of Kerris or CerysMeaning:
"love"Description:
This phonetic version of the Welsh Cerys might be easier for Americans, certainly, to understand, but it does lose some poetry in translation.
- Dilan
Origin:
Spelling variation of Dylan; TurkishMeaning:
"love"Description:
Dylan has become a go-to name for boys in the last generation, thanks to poet Dylan Thomas, musician Bob Dylan, and fictional characters like Dylan McKay of Beverly Hills, 90210. Spelling variations include Dillon and Dilan. Alternately, Dilan is a feminine Turkish name meaning "love." Due to the ultra-popularity of Dylan, Dilan will likely be misspelled frequently.
- Carwyn
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"blessed love"Description:
A famous bearer is Carwyn Jones, leader of the Welsh Labour Party and First Minister of Wales since 2009. Feminine version is Carwen.
- Grainne
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"grain or love"Description:
Grainne is the Irish form of the name often Anglicized as Grania. It was the name of the ancient grain goddess and also of the fiancee of mythological hero Finn McCool and lover of Dermot, who was a heroine of the seas.
- Aika
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"flower"Description:
Depending on which characters you use, this Japanese name can have many meanings. The first part can mean "love, affection" or "indigo", while kanji for the second element include those meaning flower, perfume, include, sing, and praise. Whichever you choose, this is a distinctive Japanese name that travels easily into other languages.
- Ife
Origin:
African, YorubaMeaning:
"love"Description:
Simple African name all-but-unknown in the U.S. and Europe, which is exactly why it might make a perfect choice. Similarity to such popular names as Ava and Eva (and the Irish Aoife) makes it more familiar, but potentially more confusing.
- Amor
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"love"Description:
Bestselling author Amor Towles, who wrote Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow introduced this elegant and meaningful name to the lexicon. Names that mean love -- Amory, Amias, and Amoris are other similar choices -- always have a deep appeal.
- Ceri
Origin:
WelshMeaning:
"to love"Description:
Ceri is traditionally a Welsh masculine name which historically has been Anglicised to "Kerry", but we love the Welsh original. Famous Ceris include British painter Ceri Richards and New Zealand soccer player Ceri Evans. Be aware that Ceri is sometimes used as a female name, both as a standalone name and as a shortening of the Welsh female name Ceridwen.
- Jadore
Origin:
French invented nameMeaning:
"I love"Description:
A modern invented name, taken directly from the French phrase "J'adore", meaning "I love".
